Japan's final team line-up for Helsinki

Eight team members were added to the final Helsinki squad which has been announced by the Japanese Association of Athletics Federation (JAAF).

National 200m record holder Shingo Suetsugu and Daichi Sawano, national record holder in the Pole Vault, were added to the roster, bringing the team total to 56: 34 men and 22 women. Because Suetsugu missed the national championships due to injury and Sawano’s no-height, the pair had to prove themselves to selectors, which they did in recent competitions. Suetsugu comfortably won the 100m in Nambu recently, while Sawano finished second in Rome Golden Gala Golden League competition in Rome.

Murofushi - strongest hope

The strongest medal hopes in Helsinki are in the men’s Hammer Throw, where Koji Murofushi is the reigning Olympic champion, and men’s and women’s Marathon. Presently, Murofushi is training  in Eugene, Oregon. Usually the men’s Marathon team takes a backseat to the women’s squad, but this year could be an exception due to the presence of Toshinari Takaoka, the national record holder at the 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m and Marathon. Takaoka has run five marathons - all under 2:10 - with all but his debut under 2:08. He is currently training in the northern Japanese Island of Hokkaido.

Unlike other Japanese marathoners, Takaoka has no intention of traveling to Helsinki beforehand to run over the marathon course. “Because it is a loop course, it is possible to run the entire course after we arrive in Helsinki,” said his coach Kunimitsu Ito, himself a 2:07 marathon runner.

Adding to the Japanese 1-2 punch is Tsuyoshi Ogata who was 12th in Paris in 2003. A consistent performer, Ogata has recorded three sub-2:10 marathons in his last four starts.

The Japanese woman has won a medal in seven straight global championships (four Worlds and three Olympics) since 1996. Unlike previous years, there is no proven leader, providing an opportunity for a new face to provide leadership.

Yumiko Hara won her debut marathon with a 2:24:19 run in March and ran 31:24.33 in the 10,000m in April. Megumi Oshima (Tanaka), who has contested both the 5000 and 10,000 in both the Worlds and Olympics, has run four marathons, all under 2:30, with the last two under 2:25.  Mari Ozaki has run only two marathons but both were under 2:24. Harumi Hiroyama is a most experienced, having run the 1500, 3000, 5000 and 10,000m in the global championships. Her best finish at the Worlds was her fourth place finish in the 10,000 in Sevilla.

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Complete Team Roster:  
Season best / career best

Men -   
100m & 4x100m Relays
Shinya Saburi 10.33 / 10.33 (2005)
Nobuharu Asahara 10.29 / 10.02 (2001)
Kazuyoshi Hidaka 10.29 / 10.29 (2005) 
Tatsuro Yoshino 10.25w / 10.25w (2005)

200m
Shingo Suetsugu, 20.55 / 20.03 (2003)
Shinji Takahira, 20.55 / 20.55 (2005)

1500m
Fumikazu Kobayashi, 3:40.15 / 3:37.42 (2004)

10,000m
Yu Mitsuya, 27:41.10 / 27:41.10 (2005)
Teraukazu Omori, 27:56.57 / 27:43.94 (2004)

Marathon
Toshinari Takaoka,  2:07:41 / 2:06:16 (2002)
Tsuyoshi Ogata, 2:09:10 (Dec 2004) / 2:08:37 (2003)
Michitaka Hosokawa, 2:09:10 / 2:09:10 (2005)
Wataru Okutani, 2:09:13 / 2:09:13 (2005)
Satoshi Irifune, 2:09:58 / 2:09:58 (2005)

110mH
Masato Naito, 13.53 / 13.47 (2003)
Satoru Tanigawa, 13.61 / 13:39 (2004)

400mH
Dai Tamesue, 48.72 / 47.89 (2001)
Kenji Narisako, 48.35 / 48.35 (2005)

3000mSC
Yoshitaka Iwamizu, 8:29.79 / 8:18.93 (2003)

4x400m Relay
Yuzo Kanemaru, 45.69/ 45.69 (2005)
Mitsuhiro Sato, 46.06/ 45.50 (2003)
Yosuke Inoue, 46.31 / 46.31 (2005)
Yoshihiro Horigome, 45.95 / 45.95 (2005)

20Km Walk
Takayuki Tanii, 1:21:06 / 1:20:39 (2004)
Akihiro Sugimoto, 1:22:21 / 1:21:09 (2004)
Koichiro Morioka, 1:22:51 / 1:22:51 (2005)

50Km Walk
Yuki Yamazaki, 3:50:39 / 3:50:39 (2005) 
Ken Akashi, 3:59:11 / 3:54:11 (2003)

HJ
Naoyuki Daigo, 2.27m / 2.27m (2005)

PV
Daichi Sawano, 5.83m / 5.83m (2005)

LJ
Shin-ichi Terano, 7.78m / 8.20m (2004)

TJ
Kazuyoshi Ishikawa, 16.92m / 16.98m (2004)

HT
Koji Murofushi, 76.47m / 84.86m (2003)

JT
Yukifumi Murakami , 79.79m / 81.71m (2004)

WOMEN -

400m
Asami Tanno, 51.93 / 51.93 (2005)

800m
Miho Sugimori, 2:00:45 / 2:00.45 (2005)

5000m/10,000m
Kayoko Fukushi, 14:53.22/31:30.82 / 14:53.22 (2005)/30:51.81 (2002)
Hiromi Ominami, 31:35.18 / 31:35.18 (2005)
Hitomi Miyai, 31:37.24 / 31:37.24 (2005)

3000mSC
Minori Hayakari, 9:58.92 / 9:58.92 (2005)

Marathon
Mari Ozaki, 2:23:59 / 2:23:30 (2003)
Yumiko Hara, 2:24:19 / 2:24:19 (2005)
Megumi Oshima (Tanaka), 2:24:25 / 2:24:25 (2005)
Ryoko Eda, 2:24:54 / 2:24:54 (2005)
Harumi Hiroyama, 2:25:56 / 2:22:56 (2000)

4x100m Relay
Tomoko Ishida, 11.63 / 11.45 (2004)
Yuka Sato, 11.70 / 11.70 (2005)
Ayumi Suzuki, 11.65 / 11.45 (2004)
Sakie Nobuoka, 11.49 / 11.49(2005)

Walk
Mayumi Kawasaki, 1:31:51 / 1:31:19 (2004)
Shoko Konishi, 1:32:21 /1:32:21 (2005)

PV
Takayo Kondo 4.10m / 4.35m (2004)

LJ
Kumiko Ikeda, 6.69m / 6.78m (2001)

SP
Yoko Toyonaga, 16.69m / 17.57m (2004)

HT
Yuka Murofushi, 65.38m / 67.77m (2004)

Heptathlon
Yuki Nakata, 5905 / 5962 (2004)